Blood filled her vision. It was everywhere. Slowly oozing from the stab wound on her arm. Covering her hands from an attempt to dress his wound. On her face and the ground and her clothes.

No matter where Nova looked, she couldn't escape it. When she closed her eyes, she was haunted by the ever familiar gunshots and the image of Adrian's body hitting the ground, blood pooling beneath him.

But the blood wasn't all hers.

No, most of it was the Sentinel's.

Most of it was Adrian's.

In the back of her mind, the horrid scene kept replaying. Nova spotting the Sentinel. Pulling out her gun and taking aim at him. Preparing to pull the trigger. The second she pulled the trigger, his head turned around to face her. His visor had been up and she could clearly see Adrian's face. The bullet hit him and he collapsed to the ground. She had dropped her gun to the ground, rushing over to him. He had used his last bit of strength to reach out and pull a knife from her belt, stabbing blindly at her. The stab wound in her arm wasn't very deep, but it still hurt like hell. But she was able to block out the pain and focus on him. It was then that her hood fell and she threw aside her mask, falling to the ground beside Adrian. Whispering his name over and over again. Mumbling apology after apology. Pressing a hand to his wound in futile attempts to stop the bleeding. Screaming for help that, deep down, Nova knew would never come.

In any other circumstance, she would have despised him for being the Sentinel. But now, Adrian was dying and it was her fault. No matter how much she wanted to, she couldn't bring herself to hate him.

Now, Adrian lay on his side before her, bleeding out from the bullet wound. He was still wearing the Sentinel's armor, the visor still up. The sun was setting over Gatlon, but the fighting had yet to cease. Although that was the least of Nova's worries at the moment. Right now, she was more concerned with stopping Adrian's bleeding.

Nova's head ached. Her eyes shone with unshed tears. She placed a hand to his wound in another attempt to staunch the bleeding, though it proved ineffective. Soon her hands were covered in even more of his blood than before. She knew her attempts were useless, but she was still clinging onto the little bit of hope that he would make it through this.

He groaned in pain, reaching out for her. Adrian's hand found her arm and squeezed, though there was little strength behind it. Nonetheless, Nova's arm still ached where she had been stabbed by him just moments before. But she ignored the pain and focused on trying to stop his bleeding.

"I'm so sorry," Nova whispered, kneeling beside him. She cradled his head in her lap. The pain in her arm was getting worse and the blood was beginning to seep through the fabric of her sleeve, though that was the least of her worries. "I never would have shot him if I'd known it was you." Tears streamed down her cheeks, leaving little trails in the grime that covered her cheeks. She pressed her forehead to Adrian's, sobbing.

"Nova," he said, his voice barely more than a breath. His hand reached up, fingers brushing against her hair before falling back to his side. Adrian's breathing was becoming shallower, his blood pooling beneath them.

"Adrian, don't leave me. I—I love you." She found his hand, squeezing it. "You can't go. Not yet. Not yet," she wept. Nova lifted her head, looking into his eyes one last time.

His brown eyes were devoid of their usual life as she gazed upon them. They were clouded over, shining with tears.

"Love you, too." Adrian squeezed her hand weakly, eyes shut in pain.

Nova watched as his breathing slowed and his grip on her hand slipped.

"No, no, no!" she screamed.

Nova scrambled to grab his wrist, feeling for a pulse. It was faint, barely there, then...

Nothing.

She dropped his wrist.

Sobs wracked her body as she leaned over him, resting her head against his chest. The metal of his suit was cold against her cheek, and it was sticky with blood.

Nova started to mumble apologies again, but they soon turned to screams of "I'm sorry" and "I love you" and "Why did you have to go, don't leave me."

Nova remained by Adrian's body on the bloodied battlefield for hours, sobbing into his chest and whimpering about how unfair it was for him to have died when should it have been her. If it wasn't for her, he would have still been alive and breathing. And maybe, just maybe, they could have found a way to be happy together, to put their secret identities past them. But now they couldn't because Adrian was dead and Nova had no idea what was going to happen to her now.

Adrian was dead and it was all her fault...